GunLink Blog

Alliant Powder, a leading manufacturer of smokeless propellant, offers clay target shooters a consistent, clean-burning option with the release of improved Green Dot. Shooters can now get the tight, consistent, long-range patterns of Green Dot with significantly less fouling. Shipments are being delivered to dealers.

The improved formulation burns much cleaner, with precise burn rates that produce dense, uniform patterns, as well as less felt recoil. Enhanced Green Dot is optimized for handicap trap loads, yet versatile enough for a variety of target and field applications. It offers Alliant Powder’s legendary lot-to-lot consistency and is proudly made in the U.S.A.

Features & Benefits

• Improved clean-burning formulation
• Significantly less fouling
• Lower felt recoil and superior patterning
• Optimized for handicap trap loads
• Excellent lot-to-lot consistency
• Made in the U.S.A.

SIG SAUER, Inc. is proud to announce the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department has selected the P226 Pistol as their official duty sidearm, and the department will additionally acquire the M400 rifle as the agency’s patrol rifle and the P239 pistol for the detective unit. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department is a full service law enforcement agency located in Columbus, Ohio.

“With this acquisition the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department will, for the first time, be issuing a standard duty pistol to every certified officer on our force. We chose SIG SAUER’s P226 as our standard issue pistol after an extensive testing and review process and feel this is the best choice for our force,” began Captain James Simmons of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. “The P239 pistol and the M400 rifle are also being placed into service in our department and we are looking forward to developing our relationship with SIG SAUER.”

The SIG SAUER P226R pistol has earned a reputation with law enforcement and elite military agencies for its reliability, performance, durability in various environments, and consistent accuracy. The P226R pistol features an integral accessory rail for tactical light systems. The new duty service pistol for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department will feature a hard anodized aluminum black frame with a black Nitron finished stainless steel slide, and a 9mm 15-round magazine. The P239 9mm pistol is a compact classic line pistol with aluminum frame and black polymer grips.

The SIG SAUER M400 is an AR platform rifle with a free-float lightweight M-LOK handguard, enhanced Mil Spec trigger, microlight gas block, and a 30-round magazine capacity.
“We are proud to add such a well-recognized agency as the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office to the fast-growing list of law enforcement agency selecting SIG SAUER pistols as their official duty sidearm,” said Tom Jankiewicz, Executive Vice President, Law Enforcement Sales. “SIG SAUER has a long history of providing the best firearms for law enforcement use and we are humbled that these officers entrust their lives with SIG SAUER firearms.”

Sheriff Dallas Baldwin of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office supported the testing and transition of the P226 and P239 pistols, and the M400 rifles for the department, and local distributor Vance Outdoors in Obetz, Ohio will be providing the product locally.

Action Target Inc., the leading manufacturer of modern shooting ranges, has announced the launch of the BCS Deluxe 20 as another solution for indoor and outdoor shooting range bullet collection.

The BCS Deluxe 20 is a bullet collection system that integrates with the deceleration chambers of Action Target’s Total Containment Trap™. The system utilizes a discharge hopper that funnels bullet fragments from the deceleration chamber into a 20-gallon drums. The drums, which are situated on heavy-duty dollies for easy replacement, connect to the discharge hopper by means of quick-disconnect lid clamps. Additionally, a sight window incorporated in the drum lid allows range personnel to monitor the lead fill level inside the drum.

Previously, ranges employing the Total Containment Trap™ system utilized either the BCS Basic 3, which collects lead in 3.5-gallon containers or the BCS Auto 55, which is comprised of a screw conveyor that transports lead to a 55-gallon container. The new BCS Deluxe 20 provides ranges with an additional option that significantly decreases the frequency by which bullet collection containers are replaced.

“Action Target continuously examines options for improving bullet collection and lead management. The BCS Deluxe 20 has been engineered to provide a simple and economical solution that makes it easier for range owners to focus on the other rewarding aspects of running a range,” said Kevin Tomaszewski, VP of Marketing and Engineering at Action Target.

The BCS Deluxe 20 works seamlessly with Action Target’s Metals Recycling Program. This program removes the hassle associated with spent metals and lead management. Within 72 hours of a phone call from range owners who are enrolled in the program, Action Target picks up, sorts and weighs the brass and lead collected in the range. The range owner is then issued a credit that can be applied to hazardous waste disposal services, ammunition and other range supplies found at Shop.ActionTarget.com.

For additional information, visit www.actiontarget.com/products/bcs_deluxe_20/

Apex Tactical Specialties, the leading manufacturer of aftermarket triggers and parts for brands such as CZ, Glock, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson and Walther, announces it is adding Ruger to that list with the upcoming release of the new Action Enhancement Kits for the Ruger Mk IV model pistols.

Designed, tested and manufactured by Apex to provide an improved, more responsive trigger pull in the Ruger Mk IV pistols, the Action Enhancement Kit replaces the factory trigger and hammer with Apex components that lighten the trigger pull weight, deliver a crisp trigger break and reduce overall trigger travel.

Included in each kit is a safety plate that maintains factory safety values, even when put through Apex’s extensive drop-testing process which is conducted from six feet onto concrete. Also in each kit is a red anodized magazine safety delete plate, which when installed, allows the pistol to fire without the magazine inserted. Installing this plate is optional, but Apex recommends it be used for competition purposes only.

Apex is offering two kits, one for Mk IV models and one for Mk IV 22/45 models. Each will be available for purchase with either a black anodized or red anodized trigger. Pre-ordering for the new kits will begin on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 with orders shipping on Tuesday, August 7, 2018.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms industry, is pleased to announce that it has chosen the winners of its 2018 Voting Member Scholarship contest. The annual contest is open to voting company members, their employees and family members, with a total of $60,000 in college costs awards divided among 25 winners. This year’s contest drew entries from more than 75 rising and current college and university students.

Students had a choice of three trending topics on which to provide an essay:

• Should social media platforms censor content concerning the lawful commerce in firearms and ammunition products?
• Should the age to purchase a rifle or shotgun be raised to 21? If so, does the same apply for voting rights and driver’s licenses?
• What are the challenges facing youth today to becoming involved in hunting?

This year’s Grand Prize winner and recipient of $8,000 is Alison Basore, whose father, Richard, works for Hodgdon Powder Company based in Shawnee, Kansas. Ms. Basore chose the topic regarding social media platforms, writing, in part:

“… [W]hen social media platforms censor content, they fail to recognize the content’s validity in the marketplace. This has a raw negative influence … . It is almost as if social media platforms consider the commerce of firearms and ammunition unlawful, and this propagates the wrong idea in the public’s mind. For example, by Facebook refusing to display firearm advertisements, the population gets a biased sampling against the marketplace. For young people today, the idea of gun ownership will be falsely presented as unlawful.

[W]hen social media platforms censor content they open a gateway for future infringements on rights. When companies like Instagram, Facebook, or even Google begin to not show gun advertisements or user posts that picture firearms, there is very little stopping them from expanding this policy to not show any firearms or ammunition. In fact, some social media platforms restrict having firearms in profile pictures and from user posts. When it comes to progressive movements, such as this one, history has shown us that abuse of power is not only possible but expected.”

Ms. Basore’s entire essay may be read here. Second place and $5,000 were awarded to Matthew Russel, whose father, Clay, is employed by Olin Corporation. Third place and $3,000 were awarded Dana Anthony, whose father, Richard, also works for Olin. Twenty-five other writers received the remaining prize money, each receiving $2,000 for their excellent submissions.

“Our congratulations are extended to all those who took part in this year’s scholarship contest,” said Samantha Hughes, NSSF Manager, Member Services. “It’s a pleasure to see these students so invested in the issues affecting our industry and the shooting sports. We wish them much success in their college careers and hope to see many join our industry upon graduation.”

Kim Rhode wins gold … her 21st in fact, as she once again outperformed the world’s best skeet shooters at the 2018 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Tucson (Arizona). More than 200 shotgun athletes took part in the last of four shotgun world cups of the season and one of the final competitions ahead of the world championships, which begins August 31, 2018, in Changwon, South Korea.

The gold medal was Rhode’s third ISSF World Cup Gold medal of the 2018 season; she also won gold at ISSF competitions held in Mexico and South Korea earlier this year.
Rhode won her second consecutive, and third overall, International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in women’s skeet this past October in New Delhi, India.

Kim Rhode and Winchester Ammunition have an amazing history spanning nearly three decades together and an incredible number of podium placements as far back as her first World Championship at the age of 13. Kim Rhode will continue to shoot Winchester AAs as she prepares to compete for an unprecedented seventh consecutive Olympic medal at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.